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						<h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading" lang="en"><span dir="auto">Align a stack of photos</span></h1>
						<div id="bodyContent">
								<div id="siteSub">From PanoTools.org Wiki</div>
								
												
				<div id="mw-content-text" lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr"><p>There are occasions where it is necessary to align a set of otherwise identical
pictures:
</p>
<ul>
<li> Aligning red, green and blue channels to correct <a href="Chromatic_aberration.html" title="Chromatic aberration">chromatic aberration</a>.
</li>
<li> Aligning photos taken over a period of time to create a time-lapse movie.
</li>
<li> Aligning <a href="Bracketing.html" title="Bracketing">bracketed</a> shots to create a single <a href="HDR.html" title="HDR">HDR</a> or contrast blended<a class="external" href="http://wiki.panotools.org/Contrast_Blending">[*]</a> image.
</li>
<li> Aligning photos taken at different focus distances to merge into a single extended <a href="Depth_of_Field.html" title="Depth of Field">Depth of Field</a> image.
</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="Panorama_tools.html" title="Panorama tools">Panorama tools</a> is particularly useful for this process since it allows
sub-pixel alignment and has a sophisticated <a href="Lens_correction_model.html" title="Lens correction model">lens correction model</a> for
applying distortion - Even photos taken years apart with different cameras
can be aligned perfectly.
</p><p>Most tools for <a href="HDR.html" title="HDR">HDR</a> generation such as photomatix<a class="external" href="http://wiki.panotools.org/Photomatix">[*]</a> have some level of
automatic alignment, so this may be sufficient for most purposes.  Otherwise the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.luxal.eu/resources/hdr/hdrprep/index.shtml">hdrprep</a> perl script
automates the process described below:
</p>
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Aligning_with_hugin">Aligning with hugin</span></h2>
<ul>
<li> Start up a new <a href="Hugin.html" title="Hugin">hugin</a> project for each series and load the images.  Set the <a href="Field_of_View.html" title="Field of View">Field of View</a>, <a href="Lens_correction_model.html" title="Lens correction model">lens parameters</a> and <a href="Projections.html" title="Projections">projection</a> type, ie. if your lens is a <a href="Fisheye_Projection.html" title="Fisheye Projection">fisheye</a>, set this for both the input and output projection.
</li>
<li> Create control points via the <a href="Hugin_Photos_tab.html" title="Hugin Photos tab">Photos tab</a>.  <a href="Align_image_stack.html" title="Align image stack">Align_image_stack</a> is specialized for this task. But also <a href="Panomatic.html" title="Panomatic">Panomatic</a> or <a href="Cpfind.html" title="Cpfind">Cpfind</a> work for this use case.
</li>
<li> Select "Positions (y,p,r)" and "Optimise now!" in the <a href="Hugin_Photos_tab.html" title="Hugin Photos tab">Photos tab</a>.
</li>
<li> If necessary, fine tune the control points in the <a href="Hugin_Control_Points_tab.html" title="Hugin Control Points tab">Control Points tab</a> and optimise again.
</li>
<li> In the <a href="Hugin_Main_window.html" title="Hugin Main window">fast panorama preview</a>, the images will be on top of each other.  Select "Move/Drag" and "Fit", then select "Crop" and "HDR Autocrop".
</li>
<li> In the <a href="Hugin_Stitcher_tab.html" title="Hugin Stitcher tab">Stitcher tab</a>, select "Calculate Optimal Size", then deselect the default panorama outputs and select "No exposure correction, low dynamic range" in the "Remapped images" section.  Select "Stitch!".
</li>
</ul>
<p>See a more detailed view of this article <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.lemis.com/grog/photography/aligning-with-Hugin.php">here</a>.
</p>



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